"If the prime minister’s renegotiation does not achieve fundamental change, Britain should leave the EU," according to a new report by social and economic think tank Politeia. The authors write:
"We want the British people to be sovereign again. If they want to change policy, laws, taxes or spending, their will expressed in a General Election or in polls and lobbying should prevail…That is why we need to change our relationship and restore our rights of self-government."
In their report, 'The UK and the EU: What must change?' the three senior Tory MPs, Sir Bill Cash, Bernard Jenkin and Rt Hon John Redwood, stress that a fundamental change of Britain’s relationship with the European Union "must mean that the UK’s parliament will be able to decide on the vital matters which affect national life and the UK courts will be the ultimate arbiter of matters such as the UK human rights law."
"This is the only way to fulfill all the commitments which he [David Cameron] has made on tax and business regulation, employment and social policy, borders and immigration," according to the authors.
Should David Cameron insist on #EU Treaty change? Read @PoliteiaUK's The UK and the EU: What must change? http://t.co/Oi1a1BSChY
— Politeia (@PoliteiaUK) June 26, 2015
The newly elected Conservative government wants to limit the power that the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice have over courts in Britain. One way of achieving this would be to scrap Britain’s human rights law and replace it with a British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.
It would mean that courts in Britain would no longer have to take into account the rulings made by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, allowing parliament in the UK to veto legislative decisions made at the ECHR and give the power back to British courts.
But plans to scrap the Human Rights Act — which includes the right to liberty, the right to life, right to privacy, right to a family life, freedom of expression, freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment and the right to a fair trial – are causing controversy in Britain.
Human rights groups are warning that the plans pose the "greatest threat to freedom in Britain" since the Second World War, according to the Committee on the Administration of Justice.
Anyone got any good, comprehensive info yet on human rights act vs proposed 'British bill of rights and responsibilities'?
— Tara Wheeler (@WheelerTara) May 11, 2015
As part of his re-negotiations, David Cameron wants to see businesses liberated from red tape and greater free trade with North America and Asia.
Our commitment: we'll restore common sense to human rights with a new British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. pic.twitter.com/M9ZKfVePbN
— Conservatives (@Conservatives) October 3, 2014
Cameron also wants to ensure that Britain is no longer subject to the concept of an "ever closer union", enshrined in the treaty signed by every EU member state. However, the MPs say that if Cameron fails to achieve the fundamental changes he has pledged, Britain should leave the EU.
"Out of the EU, the UK can trade more successfully with the rest of the world, get on with concluding better trade deals with the rest of the world, and can make its own decisions on business costs and regulations," the authors explain.
Meanwhile Christian Odendahl, chief economist at the Center for European Reform says: “Britain should work together with the EU, inside the EU, to improve the well-being of its citizens."
"Politically, the combination of the most outward-orientated European country, Britain, and the size and might of the EU, works to the benefit of both and will continue to contribute positively to the EU's and Britain’s standing in the world."
Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to hold an In/Out referendum on the European Union before the end of 2017.
